We all have a need for speed in some way, and for baseball fans there is probably nothing more tantalizing than watching a fastball. More and more, the game is becoming about the speed of the ball, and in some ways, the dance that batter have to do to try and get around on the latest from someone like the Yankees Aroldis Champman or a host of any other flamethrowers. Now there is a new documentary, “Fastball” which looks at the history of some of the game’s biggest throwers, and the challenges that some of the game’s greatest hitters had in matching wits and skills with those batters.
Directed by Emmy and Peabody Award winner Jonathan Hock (“Unguarded,” “The Best That Never Was;” “Survive and Advance;” “The Gospel According to Mac;” and “Of Miracles and Men”), narrated by Kevin Costner and produced by Thomas Tull, the film brings fans inside the mind of the hard throwing pitcher and the heads of the batters to see what it’s like being on those front lines, a great precursor to the opening of baseball season.
We caught up with Hock to talk about the film, fastballs and working with one of some of Hollywood’s brightest and boldest on the project.
What drove you to making the documentary, any one particular moment you experienced?
I received a call from Thomas Tull, who had recently finished making the amazing music documentary, “It Might Get Loud,” with my friend Davis Guggenheim. Thomas told Davis that he had an idea for a baseball doc, and Davis suggested he call me. Thomas and I spoke, and I knew right away I had to work with him. His passion for the game and for documentaries was overwhelming, and when he described his idea about finding the heart and soul of the game within the primal struggle of pitcher and batter, “a man with a stick and a man with a rock,” I knew we were onto something special.
As fans, we marvel at the speed of the ball and the response at such a short distance. What was the most surprising fact that came out of all the interviews that were done?
What amazed me, and what in many ways became the key to the film, was that both the pitcher and the batter are performing at the true limit of human potential. It’s simply not humanly possible to throw faster than Nolan Ryan, Bob Feller or Aroldis Chapman, without your arm flying off your body; at the same time, it’s not humanly possible to react to an object in motion faster than Hank Aaron or Bryce Harper react to the pitched ball. So we realized that when they set the mound at precisely 60 feet, 6 inches – the distance from the mound to the plate – the game was placed into perfect balance at the pinnacle of human performance. Maybe that’s why we all respond to in so instinctively.
After being so deeply involved in the production, what is the bigger challenge; the controlling of the speed from the mound or the task of hitting the ball as it comes in?
I think that the final truth about it is that they are equally difficult. It might seem that just chucking the ball as fast as you can is easier – it’s pretty apparent that actually making contact with a major league fastball is nearly impossible. But at that major league level, the ability to locate the pitch within the strike zone – not simply to throw it over the plate – is paramount. Without great location, even the fastest thrower is going to struggle to get hitters out. So even though it might seem that there are a zillion guys throwing upwards of 100 these days, the ability to harness the lightning in the arm to the degree necessary to succeed over time in the big leagues is extraordinarily rare.
“Knuckleball” had such a good run as a documentary because of the quirkiness of the pitch and those who throw it. Does the intimidation factor of a Gibson for example, make this story harder to tell in any way?
Bob Gibson’s discussion of intimidation is one of my favorite parts of the film. Our story is one of confrontation of two people balanced on the knife’s edge of human potential, and the drama within that scenario yields moments and characters of infinite fascination.
Thomas Tull is quite a baseball fan, and is on the board of the Hall of Fame. What was it like to get his buy in?
The whole thing was Thomas’s brainchild, and his enthusiasm and support only built as we worked together.
Is there anyone you wished you had gotten for the film but couldn’t?
We did want to interview Randy Johnson, a once-a-generation kind of power pitcher, but we couldn’t put it together.
Was Crash Davis an easy get for narration?
Any Costner baseball stories come along during post production? Kevin played Superman’s dad in MAN OF STEEL, which Thomas produced, so that’s how that happened. We never imagined anyone else narrating the film, and we’re so appreciative of how into it Kevin was.
What is the one element you would like fans to take away from the film that they may not have realized before?
From our first meeting, Thomas and I set for ourselves the goal of making THE baseball movie that fans will want to watch every spring, year after year, to get psyched up for the season that’s about to start. An exhilarating reminder of the magic that’s possible every pitch. That’s what we want people to feel as they watch this film, all the magic of the game of baseball.
